While likely known best around the Fox Cities as a restaurant with a sharp focus on food from local producers, the Source also was among the most regular hosts of original live music. On most weekends, it could be counted on to host gigs on Friday and Saturday nights, plus a Sunday afternoon show (often bluegrass in recent months) and sometimes Thursday nights.

Over its run of four-plus years, the Source became one of the go-to venues for bands returning after making an impression during Mile of Music festivals. Wild Adriatic, Hugh Bob and the Hustle, Earl Burrows and Charlie Parr as some of the many Mile acts to make it back to the Fox Cities for Source shows.

The Menasha venue also regularly supported artists from around northeast Wisconsin. It was a Wisconsin Area Music Industry award nominee in 2018 for Best Live Club/Venue and had served as a stage for the youth musicians of Kurt Stein's School of Music and Appleton Rock School.

"The Source was one of the Fox Valley's premier live music venues, and its importance to the entertainment landscape in this area can not be overstated," wrote WIJAM co-founder Jon Schinke on Facebook Monday. " ... The Source has truly been a hidden gem, and its stage has hosted everything from folk music and bluegrass, to reggae and hip hop, to jazz and Latin samba music, to battles of the bands and rock school performances. This is indeed a sad day for Wisconsin music."

WIJAM is an Appleton-based music promoter that had teamed with the Source for the past year and a half. Curtis Biese, the other WIJAM co-founder, said while there'll be a hole left behind, hopefully the Source helped with a movement that'll continue in the years ahead.

"We are going to be working with some new venues moving forward," Biese said. "The Source was kind of a foundation of what's going to come next. It would have been great if they could have seen it through with us, but I think that location out there played a big part in them not being able to continue."

WIJAM has partnered with both Mill Creek in downtown Appleton and Cranky Pat's in Neenah, so people who've been into the music hosted on the Source's stage in 2017 and 2018 should keep an eye on those venues.

"Those of us who have been helping to build the original music movement are so appreciative of the venues that have done it right or attempted to do it right in terms of their focus on the artists and the fans, and the Source is one of those," said Mile of Music co-founder Dave Willems of Willems Marketing & Events. "The loss will certainly be felt in the short term, as there was a strong reputation for doing some excellent shows there with artists at different levels.

"Of course, it’ll now be an opportunity for other venues locally to step into that void, and there appears to be a number looking to do so when it comes to building the music scene."